Tag Archives: summer reading

Creekers! It’s back to school in ONE WEEK! Are you ready? I still have lots of books on my TBR shelf and I’m going to make the most of this last week by tackling them ALL. Here are the books that I’ve finished so far this summer:

Sabriel by Garth Nix – this is the first in a series about a necromancer and I’m hooked! I can’t wait to read Lirael, Abhorsen, and Clariel. If you liked Harry Potter, you’d really dig this series.

This is a great nonfiction book about the first regiment of black paratroopers in the United States. Those guys went through all the grueling training that paratroopers normally have to do, and then they had to deal with racism on top of it all. This is a great book about a little-known group of game-changers during WWII.

Two books in one! This is the story of Darcy, a teenager who managed to get her NaNoWriMo novel picked up by a big publisher, and her story about a girl, Lizzie, who can visit the afterlife at will. I loved the alternating chapters and Darcy’s story of self-discovery and growing up the city was just as exciting as Lizzie’s adventures in the Afterworld.

This is a great middle-grade book about a young boy, Fadi, and his family as they flee from Afghanistan right before the September 11th attacks. Fadi has to get used to living in California while he deals with the guilt of letting go of his little sister’s hand during their harrowing, late-night escape from Jalalabad.

This is another middle-grade novel (in verse) about a girl who immigrates from war-torn Vietnam to the United States in the 70s. The poetry is stark and emotional, and the main character, Hà is clever and caring. I also listened to the audiobook version of this novel and it was wonderful.

One more middle-grade book about immigration. This book is about Aref, who is about to move from Oman to the United States with his parents. He doesn’t want to leave his beautiful country and his beloved grandfather, and he’s not shy about letting his mother know. Aref and his grandfather go on adventures, getting ready for Aref’s inevitable departure.

I read this great book as an ARC (advanced reader copy) at the Young Reader’s Center at the Library of Congress. It’s about a girl who can’t leave her house because of a very rare disease. Bubble girl!

This was another ARC that I read and loved. It’s a really interesting fantasy spin on the classic One Thousand and One Nights tale of Sheherazade. I loved the unique way that the author incorporated magic into this story.

Did you read anything that you loved this summer? Leave a recommendation in the comments section! See you in a week!

Summer is TWO! DAYS! AWAY! Are you ready for sun, surf, and summer reading? In between your assigned summer reading from your teachers (find your assignments HERE), remember to read something for fun. If you don’t know what to read, check out the book reviews on the Creek Reads blog!

Do your arms get tired when you hold a book over your head while you lay on the beach? Check out Welcome to Night Vale, an awesomely weird, sometimes dark, sometimes silly, always entertaining podcast. This program is a fictional community radio show from the desert town, Night Vale, presented by the radio host, Cecil Palmer. In this on-going series, strange events happen in Night Vale every day, and Cecil is there to narrate both the mysterious and the mundane in his mellifluous voice. In between angel sightings, mayoral elections, and subterranean dwarf-wars, Cecil reads weird advertisements, crushes on Carlos, the new scientist in town, and plays great music by independent artists for “The Weather.” Fans of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, China Mieville, Stephen King, and The Twilight Zone will enjoy Welcome to Night Vale, Download the first episode from iTunes or get in on Podbay! (Personally, my favorite episode is Summer Reading Program!)